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User: mike449

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  1. Re:Mamas don't let your babies grow up on Amazon To Fund Computer Science Classes at 1,000 US High Schools (geekwire.com) · · Score: 1

    Programming (not just Excel/Word "computer literacy") is an important part of many professions. Any scientist these days has to know how to process data using Python. I am an ASIC designer (digital), and significant part of my day is programming fairly elaborate stuff in Tcl, Perl, Python and other scripting languages.
    My opinion is that this is a growing trend, and programming literacy is becoming more and more important.

  2. One of the reasons I bought OnePlus 2 was the rough texture of the back. Very easy to hold. I guess I'll skip this upgrade.

  3. At least they had the courage to keep the phone jack!

  4. Re:Has the UI gotten any better? on VLC 3.0 Adds Chromecast Support and More as the Best Free Media Player Gets Even Better (pcworld.com) · · Score: 1

    I used a search engine, and couldn't find how to enable "left click to pause" UI feature.
    All the touchscreen skin does is make UI buttons bigger, reducing the video area. You can not even pause with a touch!
    No "click to pause" is the only reason I stopped using this otherwise great media program.

  5. Re:Maybe if you're single on For Programmers, the Ultimate Office Perk is Avoiding the Office Entirely (qz.com) · · Score: 2

    I have two elementary school kids, and completely agree. I find their screaming and fighting less distracting than people in the office coming to my cube and demanding attention to issues which could be resolved in a minute by reading documentation.
    I've found that when I need to do actual coding, the only place and time is at home after kids go to sleep.

  6. I've seen the same problem with Windows Update on multiple computers running Windows 8.1.

  7. Government control is not "installing brakes in your car". It is giving the control of your brakes (and everything else in the car, including the view through the windshield) to the government, so that you can only drive on approved roads.

  8. Re:If the NSA did this, you'd think it was creepy. on Building A Global Network Of Open Source SDR Receivers (jks.com) · · Score: 1

    The coolest part of this project is the ability to pinpoint the location of transmitters. There are some very interesting stations on the air, and it would be really cool to know where exactly they are. Here is an example:
    http://www.enigma2000.org.uk/

  9. Re:In other news... on Jamming Wi-Fi With a $15 Dongle · · Score: 1

    WiFi jamming can be concealed, and detecting the source is much more difficult and expensive (at the moment) than operating it.
    It is closer to anonymous bullying on the Internet than to physical assault. The consequences are much less immediate, meaning that sociopaths are more likely to use WiFi jammers than going around smashing cars and randomly beating people.

  10. Solar rebates don't benefit Musk that much on How Elon Musk's Growing Empire is Fueled By Government Subsidies · · Score: 1

    People who benefit from solar panel rebates are contractors who charge outrageous rates for installation.
    The end user would always pay what is economically reasonable. If there were no government rebates, this economically reasonable amount would still be the same, it would only be split differently between the panel producer (probably about the same as before) and the installer (who would get less money).

  11. Re:Calm down about the screenshot in TFA on KDE Plasma 5.3 Beta Brings Lot of Improvements · · Score: 1

    Ok, here is one. I didn't even have to google.
    https://www.kde.org/announceme...

  12. Re:The irony is off the charts on FBI Says It Will Hire No One Who Lies About Illegal Downloading · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They are looking for people who will do anything their superiors tell them to do. This particular bit is about finding people who don't do stuff the authorities declare illegal. This is all about obedience, not about "not doing illegal stuff".

  13. Try popular torrents on Ask Slashdot: An Accurate Broadband Speed Test? · · Score: 1

    Downloading a popular TV show episode over Bittorrent will saturate your link. It is a good measure of your connection speed.

  14. Re:Great idea! Let's alienate Science even more! on Why Atheists Need Captain Kirk · · Score: 1

    As soon as religion makes a claim that can be disproved, thus stepping into the domain of facts and knowledge, science simply has to make a statement about such claim.
    The definition of God has been greatly constrained and hollowed throughout history, all thanks to scientific progress. Domain of religion has been shrinking precisely because science makes statements about certain religious dogmas, ones that were presented as factual knowledge, showing them to be factually incorrect and/or logically inconsistent.

  15. Power consumption on First Intel 14nm Broadwell Core M Benchmarks Unveiled · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Performance increases have been evolutionary for quite some time now, no major news expected this time.
    What is really important is the power consumption and battery life. Each new process shrink roughly halves the power while keeping the performance. Will be interesting to see if this trend holds.

  16. The original wasn't "colorful blocks" on Tetris Turns 30 · · Score: 1

    Blocks were composed of [ and ] symbols on the text terminal.
    It booted from a 8" floppy on a Soviet clone of PDP-11.

  17. NPEs are like terrorists on Owner of Nortel Patents Sues Cisco For 'Immense' Patent Infringement · · Score: 1

    Patent sales like this one should be forbidden. Nortel was a practicing entity that used patents defensively as a Mutually Assured Destruction weapon. Selling this weapon to a non-practicing entity who is happy to use patents offensively with no fear of consequences would be akin to selling Ukrainian nuclear weapons to Al-Qaeda back in 1994.

  18. Re:So what happens when there are no more jobs? on Job Automation and the Minimum Wage Debate · · Score: 1

    When people become hungry and desperate, they organize and fight. This happened throughout the history. If anything, organization is much easier today than when unions first formed. Yes, it is not going to be pretty. But the end result will be more equality, including sharing the remaining work.

  19. In a negative sense - yes on Can Science Ever Be "Settled?" · · Score: 1

    Many things in science are settled beyond any reasonable doubt as false simply because they contradict obvious observed facts. Sorry, Earth is not flat and was not created literally 6000 years ago in literally 6 days.

  20. Re:The statistics on Federal Judge Rules Chicago's Ban On Licensed Gun Dealers Unconstitutional · · Score: 1

    Ok, here is my question.
    I don't own a gun right now. If I get one, will the chance of death or injury (not just gun related) increase or decrease for me and my family?
    Is this a good enough question?
    I don't really care about being robbed. I don't own anything that can be easily taken from me and leave me ruined.

  21. Bitcoin will die because on Why Charles Stross Wants Bitcoin To Die In a Fire · · Score: 2

    The only real currency in this world is power.
    The more power you have, the more you can take away from others ("borrow"). The US dollar is only backed by power of the US government to coerce people and other nations, nothing else.
    Bitcoin has no such backing. It is worthless.

  22. Re:I donâ(TM)t suppose... on Feds Confiscate Investigative Reporter's Confidential Files During Raid · · Score: 1

    TFA does not mention any computer files.
    She provided TheDC with a photo showing the stack of file folders in a bag marked âoeevidence/property.â

  23. Look for what's already there in your area on Ask Slashdot: Best Language To Learn For Scientific Computing? · · Score: 1

    The best environment is one that already has the stuff for your application, so that you just cobble together calls to code written by somebody else. Perl + CPAN was the winning combination for many years. These days it seems to be Python+numpy/scipy/scikits.

  24. Stay legal? on Ask Slashdot: Preventing Snowden-Style Security Breaches? · · Score: 4, Insightful

    How about not doing illegal things in the first place?
    A lot of motivation for insiders to disclose the "sensitive" information would go away.

  25. This story sounds ridiculous on Russia Captures Alleged American CIA Agent In Moscow · · Score: 2

    A compass, a paper map of Moscow and a flashlight? Is this all CIA has in its arsenal? O yeah, a semi-literate "recruitment letter".
    Another detail that make it sound even more ridiculous: an FSB guy lecturing Fogle on Russian primetime news about how spying is bad. Looks like some really bad spy movie.
    I think this story was created by FSB for consumption within Russia. It is possible they knew more about his activities, but they are not telling the interesting stuff and for some reason decided to disclose this "evidence" that makes people laugh.